Some optical BC history a little more than 1 year old ...............................

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Some optical BC history a little more than 1 year old ...............................

By doing some research on the web I fell onto this small piece of optical history that happened about a year ago.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 3, 2017

College of Opticians of British Columbia

Court Orders William Lougheed to Stop Illegal Practice Vancouver –

The College of Opticians of British Columbia (the “College”) is advising past patients of William Lougheed at Imperial Optical in Kelowna to seek an eye health examination. A College investigation provided evidence that William Lougheed misled patients to believe that he was an optician. William Lougheed is not registered with the College.

William Lougheed was found to have breached a previous consent order that was issued in 2015 by the Discipline Committee of the College. In July 2017, the Supreme Court of British Columbia declared that William Lougheed is prohibited from:

• Operating the business Imperial Optical, or work in an optical store and;

• Leading patients to believe he is an optician or providing services that only an optician can provide, such as assessing vision or conducting contact lens fittings. Some facts about automated refractions:

• Opticians certified by the College to conduct automated refractions can assess vision for healthy patients between the ages of 19 and 64.

• Automated refracting opticians receive advanced education and are trained to recognize eye health issues that should be treated by an optometrist or ophthalmologist.

• Following a screening process and client notice, an optician is required to advise patients the difference between an automated refraction and eye health examination before assessing vision.

• Opticians have been safely conducting automated refractions in B.C since 1997 and there are now more than 300 automated refracting opticians in the province. The College is the regulatory body that protects the public by ensuring B.C opticians are competent professionals who are ethical, accountable and practice a standard of care. You can find out more about the College at www.cobc.ca.

The dispensing and fitting of eyewear in British Columbia has been de-regulated since 2010. Registration as an Optician with the College of Opticians of BC (COBC) is voluntary, much like was the case in Texas a few years ago. When the registration requirement for an optician to dispense eyewear was made voluntary, many previously registered opticians chose not to renew their COBC registration, but are still actively fitting eyeglasses.

In BC, anyone off the street can now open a BC optical store and sell and fit eyeglasses without needing to register with the COBC. But if their optical store wants to fit contact lenses, then a COBC registered Optician with additional COBC CL Fitter qualifications must be in attendance to do the work. Or if the store wants to offer 'Sight-Testing', then a COBC registered Optician who has successfully completed the COBC automated refraction program must perform that function.

The dispensing and fitting of eyewear in British Columbia has been de-regulated since 2010. Registration as an Optician with the College of Opticians of BC (COBC) is voluntary, much like was the case in Texas a few years ago. When the registration requirement for an optician to dispense eyewear was made voluntary, many previously registered opticians chose not to renew their COBC registration, but are still actively fitting eyeglasses.

In BC, anyone off the street can now open a BC optical store and sell and fit eyeglasses without needing to register with the COBC. But if their optical store wants to fit contact lenses, then a COBC registered Optician with additional COBC CL Fitter qualifications must be in attendance to do the work. Or if the store wants to offer 'Sight-Testing', then a COBC registered Optician who has successfully completed the COBC automated refraction program must perform that function.